Comparative hepatic and renal toxicity of cadmium in male and female rats

Rats (male and female) were exposed to 0.5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg cadmium as cadmium chloride for 3 days and subsequently sacrificed for cadmium concentration and other biochemical variables indicative of hepatic and renal damage. The absorption of cadmium was supported by biochemical changes, which were significantly higher in females than in males. This could be due to higher rate of intestinal absorption of cadmium in females than males. Male and female rats both showed relatively higher cadmium concentration in kidneys than in liver. Female rats also showed the similar trend in tissue metal levels as compared to male rats. However, hepatic and renal histopathological observations showed that female rats suffered from severe hepatic injury like hydropic degeneration of hepatocytes, granulation, bile duct proliferation etc. In comparison to female rats, male rats did not show much remarkable changes. Renal damage was more prominent in female than male in the form of renal tubular damage; most of the tubular nuclei were pyknotic, congestion of the boundary of cortex and medulla etc. The results suggested that females were comparatively more vulnerable to the toxic effects of cadmium than males.